Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-04-11
DEAD AND ALIVE.
Rev. @. w. Hetsler's Easter
Sermon.

Rev. @. w. Hetsler's Easter
sermon.
Very interesting services were held
yesterday at the First English Lutheran
Church. There were fourteen additions
to the church and liberal collection for
church extension work was taken. Fol.
lowing is Rev. MIR. Heisler's Easter ser
mon:
Revelations, l:lS. 81 am He that
liveth and was dead, and, behold 1 am
alive forevermore. amen and have the
keys of hell and of death"
OF course there is but one subject we
can fittingly present to-day. and that is
our Lords resurrection. This glad
Easter day is crowded with such hal
lowed associations and brings with it so
much of hope and joy and life, that we
can scarcely think or speak of anything
else. just notice, first, that Christ re.
ally died. He here asserts this as a real
fact in his history. In taking the sin.
ner's place in the work of redemption be
suffered bodily death. The apostles re-
garded this as the death of all their
hopes--as painful calamity. But it
was no accident at all; it was only an
incident in his career as the Goldman.
Yet it was real death; not one in ap-
pearance only, nor mere swoon from
loss of blood and exhaustion, from which
he revived on the application of the
spices. The form of execution, the sol
diers' examination, the spear thrust into
his side, the cautious Pilates inquiry,
the centurian's testimony, the embalm.
ing and entombing, all prove his death
beyond the shadow Of doubt. An allie.
cation to the contrary involves an i'm.
parchment of the veracity not only of the
centurian and soldiers and apostles, but
of Christ himself. But, thank God, He
is alive again. He is no longer a
dead Saviour. For this we bow the knee
to the Father in humble alteration.
He hath robbed death of its sting and
the grave OF its victory; He hath taken
captivity captive; He is the Death of
death and hell's destruction. The fact
of his resurrection rests not on circum
stantial or presumptive evidence; not
on the testimony of one or few persons
and they of obscure character; but on
the evidence of large number of diverse
witnesses furnished under different cir.
cumstances, and established by the exis-
tence of the present day of institutions
confes sedly founded on this fact itself.
This fact has been assailed, but in
every instance it's assailants have fallen
upon a rock. The proposed theories of
apparent death, of swooning, of fraud
in the disciples, or of enthusiasm, the
influence OF overwrought feelinns in the
Disciples are forbidden by the plain facts
OF the case. Consider carefully those
facts; note the marvellous change in
the feelings and attitude of the disciples
from hopeless despondency to the high.
est pitch of hope, of joy, of devotion
and enthusiasm; observe the number and
character Of the witnesses, their asser-
ton of the fact in the locality of its
alleged occurrence and among its fiercest
opponents, yet never successfully denied.
These things concur in putting this fact
upon an impregnable basis. Let u.s.
emphasize the truth that Christ is alive
for evermore. Death hath no no more
dominion over him. The stone is rolled
away from the door of his sepulchre and
never will be rolled back again. The
door is forever open, and the tomb for.
ever empty. He has the keys of the
iron gates of Death and of Hades. The
dead shall come forth from their graves,
To his own he says because l live ye
shall live also." This is Christ's Easter
Message to US. 1t is message of hope,
of joy, of life.